The emergence of the so-called 'Rising Powers' - including but not limited to China, India, Brazil and Russia - represents one of the key drivers of global economic and social change. The Rising Powers and Interdependent Futures network funded by the Economic and Social Research Council includes 12 research projects at ten universities across the UK that explore these ongoing changes.

Friday, 18 July 2014

‘Rising Powers and Interdependent Futures’ Doctoral and Early Career Researchers Workshop

June 5, 2014, Manchester

On 5 June, for the first time PhD students and post-docs associated with the 12 research projects funded under the ESRC ‘Rising Powers and Interdependent Futures’ programme came together in Manchester. The early career researchers used the opportunity to get to know each other and exchange around their work on the Rising Powers, based in different disciplines but sharing a common curiosity about ongoing changes in and beyond these countries. In addition, the workshop provided an opportunity to interact with and receive feedback from Manchester-based academics working on the Rising Powers.

Starting out with a thought-provoking keynote speech on China as driver of a new form of globalisation, Professor Jeffrey Henderson (University of Bristol) set the scene for a day of discussion and exchange. Arguing that China is fundamentally changing the political and economic dimensions of globalisation, Professor Henderson also highlighted possible implications for developing countries that may experience greater financial scope to pursue own policy agendas, different from neoliberal approaches that previously characterised much of globalisation.

Broader discussions on the dynamics unfolding within the Rising Powers and their impact on other countries around the world were complemented with exchange around participants’ specific research projects in smaller thematic working groups. Reflecting the diversity of research projects under the Rising Powers and Interdependent Futures programme, these projects cover issues within the Rising Power countries, such as different aspects of governance or national innovation systems, as well as the international involvement of Rising Power actors, including in global production networks as well as in agricultural and infrastructure projects in African countries.

Further, the workshop allowed room for informal exchange around fieldwork experiences and expectations in Brazil, China, India and Russia.

On the way forward, participants agreed to keep up communication through a mailing list and social media, to be able to further explore opportunities for cooperation among members of the network. They also decided to created a dedicated page on the risingpowers.net website highlighting PhD and postdoc involvement in research around the Rising Powers programme.